Press Release
FORMER WEST PALM BEACH CITY COMMISSIONER EXLINE SENTENCED FOR TAX FRAUD
June 8, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. Yasofsky, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that former West Palm Beach City Commissioner James L. Exline was sentenced today in West Palm Beach, Florida, by United States District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra to ten (10) months imprisonment followed by one (1) year of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $3,000 the U.S., after having pleaded guilty to filing a false individual income tax return with the IRS, for tax year 2004, in violation of Title 26, U.S.C., Section 7206(1). Exline was ordered to surrender himself to the Bureau of Prisons by July 20, 2007.
Through an Information, the United States Attorney charged that Exline failed to report $50,000 in income paid to him by a Palm Beach County land developer. The payment was for past and future real estate commissions, and for land planning services related to a development being proposed by the land developer. Exline directed the land developer to pay the $50,000 to a third party, who then paid Exline. At some point after the $50,000 payment, and while the proposed development was pending in the City of West Palm Beach, Exline met with City staff members about land use and planning issues related to the development. During the course of these meetings, Exline did not disclose that he had been retained by the developer. The development was not in Exline's City Commission district.
U.S. Attorney Acosta stated, "We are thankful that the Court carefully considered our arguments and recognized the need for a term of imprisonment, although ultimately the sentence imposed was less than what we had requested. When a lawmaker becomes a law breaker, the public loses respect for the law and our political system. Incarceration not only assures just punishment for those officials who have breached the public trust, but also helps to restore the public's confidence in our government."
Mr. Acosta commended the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their investigative efforts in this case, and thanked the Office of the State Attorney, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, for their cooperation in this matter. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John S. Kastrenakes and Bruce E. Reinhart.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.